I always bring these caramel bars as a dessert to potluck parties and they have always been a hit! Just the rights sweetness, soft, and nutty – best paired with coffee or tea!
Let your cravings lead the way. This phrase holds true for this recipe. I’ve been craving for Max’s caramel bars, and as the nearest Max’s restaurant is a 30-minute drive from where I live, I thought I should be able to make something similar in my own kitchen. My version, though more on the cakey side is equally good, easy, and cheaper to make!
These caramel bars are made from simple ingredients – flour, butter, eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, and cashew nuts.
I prefer to use light brown sugar over dark primarily because of the nice, golden brown color it gives, but if you don’t have one then dark brown sugar is okay.
A Note About Tempering Eggs
In Step 5 of the the recipe instructions, you would see that we need to temper the eggs. If you’ve never done it before, tempering eggs is nothing to fear.
Tempering means mixing a small amount of the hot liquid (such as hot milk or hot, melted butter) into the cold eggs. What we’re doing is slowly raising the temperature of the egg yolks so they don’t scramble. If you just combine the two mixtures, you’ll end up with cooked scrambled eggs in your sauce.
To do this, pour *some* of the melted butter mixture into the egg mixture while whisking constantly, then pour it all back into the saucepan with the remaining melted butter and continue mixing until smooth.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Shop efficiently (treat this as your grocery list) and gather your ingredients at home without running circles in your kitchen. (i.e. One trip to the fridge to get all your dairy needs.) You can still find the full printable recipe at the end of this post.
TOOLS & EQUIPMENT:
REFRIGERATED:
- butter. 227g/ 1 cup or 2 sticks of butter cut into cubes. The butter need not be at room temperature because we’ll be melting it in a pot anyway.
- eggs. 3 large eggs or 150g (weight is without shell).
PANTRY:
- flour. 156g or 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour. I highly suggest you weigh your flour. If you’re going to measure by cup then make sure to use the “spoon & level” method.
- baking soda . 1/2 teaspoon
- salt. 1/4 teaspoon fine salt/ table sale
- brown sugar. 250g or 1 3/4 cup packed of light brown sugar or golden yellow sugar.
- vanilla extract. 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
- cashews. 1/2 cup of chopped cashew nuts.
How To Make Step-By-Step
STEP 1.Preheat oven to 350°F/ (177°C) (no fan).
Mis en place. Have all the ingredients measured. Prepare the saucepan, mixing bowls, whisk, and a spatula.
Line the bottom of an 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper and grease and flour the sides.
STEP 2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
STEP 3. In another mixing bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla extract.
STEP 4. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add the brown sugar and mix until combined.
STEP 5. Temper the eggs by adding about ⅓ of the butter mixture into the egg mixture while whisking constantly (to avoid cooking the eggs).
When they are mixed, return the eggs back in the saucepan (that is still over low heat) with the remaining butter mixture. Mix thoroughly with a whisk. Gradually add the flour mixture into the butter mixture until combined. Be careful not to overmix or the bars will be tough. Turn off the heat.
STEP 6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
STEP 7. Evenly distribute the batter into the pan by gently spreading the batter to the sides using a spatula.
STEP 8. Sprinkle top with chopped cashew nuts.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick/ cake tester inserted into the centre of the bar comes out clean.
Cool completely before slicing them.
❤️ Tried this recipe and loved it? If you made this recipe or any other recipe on this site, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating + review below – or tag @thebakeologie on Instagram and hashtag it #bakeologie !
Caramel Bars
Ingredients
- 156 grams (1 1/4 cup) bleached all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 227 grams (1 cup) unsalted butter
- 250 grams (1 3/4) cup light brown sugar
- 3 pieces large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup cashew nuts chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/ 180C. Line the bottom of an 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper and grease and flour the sides.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.156 grams (1 1/4 cup) bleached all-purpose flour1/2 teaspoon baking soda1/4 teaspoon salt
- In another mixing bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla extract. Set aside.3 pieces large eggs1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add the brown sugar and mix until combined. (Do not turn off the heat yet.)227 grams (1 cup) unsalted butter250 grams (1 3/4) cup light brown sugar
- Temper the eggs (Note 1) by adding about ⅓ of the butter mixture into the egg mixture while whisking constantly (to avoid cooking the eggs). When they are mixed, return the eggs back to the saucepan with the remaining butter mixture. Mix thoroughly with a whisk.
- Gradually add the flour mixture into the butter mixture until combined. Be careful not to overmix or the bars will be tough. Turn off the heat. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Evenly distribute the batter into the pan by gently spreading the batter to the sides using a spatula.
- Sprinkle top with chopped cashew nuts. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick/ cake tester inserted into the centre of the bar comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting them.1/2 cup cashew nuts
Thank you so much for the recipe, i’m happy with the outcome so close with max’s caramel bars it’s one of our favorite sweets…now i can make my own with your recipe❤️
Yey! Thank you for sharing your feedback, Felian. I appreciate it. 🙂
This is a lovely recipe! Further, I want to commend your site design here – noting the measurements required when an ingredient is mentioned is so useful, it’s incredibly annoying when it’s left out so you have to scroll up to the ingredients list every two seconds!
Thanks for the recipe.
Karuna, thank you for sharing your feedback! I am thrilled you love these caramels bars and the site design useful. 🙂
I don’t recommended this recipe and lack of ingredients. it came out the cakey! it’s supposed to be moist, chewy. Don’t recommended!
Thanks for sharing! Outcome was good but my final product didn’t come close to Max’s.
Thank you for sharing your feedback! =)
i tried it tho i didn’t temper the eggs bcos i just found the notes when i’m done baking it, mine came out like a cake 🙁
Hi, is this supposed to be cakey or kind of fudgy/chewy? I tried it but mine was cakey
Hi! It is on the cakey side.
I suggest having the eggs at a room temperature because it helps preventing the eggs from scrambling. Also turning off the heat to the sugar and butter mixture before adding the eggs to the mixture. I don’t want to sound rude but I do think you could have been more specific in your instructions, especially for the non-bakers.
She didn’t say in the recipe to add the eggs to the butter/sugar mixture it’s the other way around and was very specific on how to do it so the eggs don’t get scrambled.
Hi this recipe is so good! Do you have a video of it?
Than you, Sarrah! Hopefully I’ll be able to do videos soon!
Hi! Can I bake this using 2 6 inch or 8 inch round pans? Can I also fold in toasted cashews in the batter? Thank you!
Yes, you can add toasted cashews into the batter if you like.
I have not tried baking this in a 6 or 8-inch pan but I think it would work. Try filling the pan up to half-full only as they rise quite a bit. You may also need to adjust the baking time – it’s done when a toothpick/ cake tester inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean. Good luck!=)
Hello Trish,
Will there be a huge difference if I use a margarine instead of butter?
Thanks,
Bea
Sorry, I haven’t tried using margarine for this recipe. I would love to know in case you will try!